Iris West was determined to make her mark as a reporter for the Central City Citizen (originally the Picture News). While working the crime beat, she met and fell in love with police scientist Barry Allen. When he became the Flash, he kept his dual life a secret, but she figured it out long before he worked up the nerve to tell her. Iris was also her nephew Wally’s best friend during his adolescence, when visiting her allowed him to escape from his difficult relationship with his parents. It was during one of these visits that Wally met the Flash and became his sidekick, Kid Flash.

Iris and Barry married (Flash v.1 #165, 1966), and lived together many years until, to strike at Barry, Professor Zoom killed her (Flash v.1 #275, 1979).

Visiting the Future

Iris’ story does not end there, however. It turned out she had been born Iris Russell in the 30th century. Her parents had sent her back in time a thousand years from the year 2927, where she was adopted by Ira and Nadine West (Flash v.1 #203, 1971). Because she had died before her birth, her parents were able to place her consciousness into a new body (Flash v.1 #350, 1985). First, her consciousness took over the body of Nathan Newbury, a juror in the Flash’s murder trial. She used future technology to show the court critical information they might have missed and ensure that the court’s original verdict—not guilty—would turn out as history had recorded it. (Confused? Here’s a more detailed explanation.)

Iris and Barry were reunited in 2957. It was not long before Barry was kidnapped in the Crisis on Infinite Earths, but it was long enough for Iris to conceive twins—Dawn and Don.

Return to the Present

Iris eventually returned to her adopted era so that Wally could help her grandson Bart survive the side effects of his inherited speed (Flash v.2 #92–94, 1994). Iris went into hiding, afraid of interfering with what to her was history, but appearing occasionally when something important had to be done. During this time, she wrote a biography of the Flash.

While while in hiding, Iris befriended Julie Jackam, believing that Julie was carrying Wally’s son. Iris agreed to take care of Josh if anything happened to his mother.* Shortly after Julie’s death, Iris learned that Wally wasn't Josh’s father after all, and she realized that much of what she thought she knew about “history” was garbled, inaccurate or just plain wrong. She could come home without fear of interfering with the future (Flash v.2 #181, 2002). Iris came out of seclusion and attempted to adopt Josh, but the adoption fell through.

When Barry Allen returned from the speed force (Final Crisis), Iris was once again reunited with her husband. They returned to Central City to pick up their old life. The Central City Citizen even convinced her to come out of retirement as a reporter.

*Continuity alert: Except for some manipulations during Barry’s trial, Iris was out of the picture from the time of her “death” to the time she brought Impulse to the present—long after Wally had moved to Keystone and just as Wally and Linda were moving in together. Josh should already have been born by this time. Either Iris is lying (out of character, and she’s got Julie’s will to back her up), issues 32–100 all took place within the space of about 3 months (meaning Wally came back from heaven for someone he’d only been dating for about a month and a half), or someone’s been seriously messing around with time. This being a comic book, the latter is a far more likely option.

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